Sometimes star casting isn't such a good thing. Case in point, God of Carnage on Broadway. Now, I missed the original star studded cast but I did see the second cast which consisted of Christine Lahti, Jimmy Smitts, Annie Potts and Ken Stott (Stott was also in the original London cast). While all of them were good in the show, somehow they distracted from the play itself, it was more of a "look at these stars saying and doing outrageous things". Seeing God of Carnage again, at the George Street Playhouse with a cast of really great actors, and not tv or movie stars, makes the play able to come through. Maybe it is because the actions of the characters are so outrageous (though, scarily, completely realistic) that having people you don't "know" from somewhere else behaving in such a way grounds the show more in realism and makes it less of a showy acting exercise.
I also think with the cast I saw on Broadway the two married couples just didn't seem to be that realistic of couples, again, that might have to do with having "names" in the cast. Where as at George Street I completely believed the two couples could have been married in real life.
Now the play itself is a short 75 minute one that shows a meeting of two married couples at one of the couple's houses. One of their sons has attacked the other with a stick at a public park, injuring the other boy and the injured boys parents have invited the other couple over as a way to "act like adults and not children" to resolve the matter and get the one child to apologize to the other. Of course, what starts out as a civilized adult meeting slowly turns into the parents acting like children with the couples turning against each other as well as their own spouses with complete mayhem and chaos ensuing.
James Ludwig, Ann Harada, Betsy Aidem
and Christopher Curry
Another reason I think I enjoyed the George Street production more than Broadway could be that the smaller and more intimate George St space makes you feel like you are in the living room with the two couples. Where as on Broadway, they just seemed like they were on a stage. The set for George Street is similar to the one on Broadway, but somehow worked better with the staging of the show.
Written by Yasmina Reza and translated into English by Christopher Hampton (he also translated Yasmina's hit play Art), the play has been tightly directed by David Saint. Betsy Aidem and Christopher Curry perfectly capture the older couple who's son has been attacked by the younger couple's son. They say all the right things and come across as the perfect hosts, but are clearly on a mission to get an apology at any cost. Ann Harada and James Ludwig are at first sincere in being invited to this meeting, but Harada's quiet demeanor is quickly shaken by the onslaught of cell phone calls that her husband gets. Those calls stop the dialogue, but the way the three adults act when having to endure yet another phone call is so spot on. We've all been in this situation before, having to try not to "listen" in on a conversation where one side of that conversation is taking place right in front of you.
I love how the story keeps changing as new information is revealed and how one character will side with another, and not always the one that character is married to! I also love how passionate the characters are. And all four of the actors through themselves into their roles, even more realistically then in the Broadway cast I say. They bring out the humor and the point of the play beautifully.
This is a show that is now getting produced at many regional theaters, hopefully they all achieve the calibre of the George Street production. A definite don't miss production.
Sleeping Beauty Wakes is an inventive and charming updated telling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. Taking place in modern times, and set in a sleep disorder clinic, this 8 character musical has been performed in several regional theatres and is currently running at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton through June 5th. It is a new musical that I really enjoyed.
The show has a score by Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn (2/3's of the musical group GrooveLily who have contributed scores to other musical productions before) and a book by Rachel Sheinkin who won a Tony for her book of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. They previously collaborated on Striking 12, a musical version of The Little Match Girl.
The plot is as follows: at a modern day sleeping disorder clinic, the King brings his daughter Rose in hopes that they can help her. Rose, of course, is Sleeping Beauty and she has been asleep for 900 years. You see, once the spell was cast on her and she pricked her finger on the spindle, she fell asleep, yet none of the many princes who kissed her were able to wake her up. The King has traded all his fortune for a spell to make him live long enough so he can protect her until his daughter wakes up. The clinic is staffed by a doctor who would much rather deal with research then the patients she sees and an orderly who has some serious issues of his own. Four patients check in along with Rose and once they fall to sleep they are pulled into Rose's dreams. Her dreams also pull in the doctor and the orderly, who find themselves playing parts in Rose's past, or is it her future?
Bryce Ryness and Aspen Vincent
The show is perfectly cast. Aspen Vincent as Beauty is not only beautiful, but perfectly captures the Princess who thinks she is just ordinary. She has a clear strong voice, and gets to not only play the grown princess but also the young girl in the flashback dream sequences who is so inquisitive when she is told she can't do certain things, not realizing it is because a spell has been cast on her. Bryce Ryness is the orderly, who we know as soon as he meets Rose, will end up being her prince. He has a beautiful voice, a lithe body and so completely inhibits his character's traits, both the strong ones and the many weak ones.
Bob Stillman is The King and he is simply heartbreaking in the love he has for his daughter. He has a couple of beautiful songs and his final moments with his daughter are so touching, that you really believe that he and Vincent are father and daughter. Stillman also has an amazing voice. Kecia Lewis-Evans is the Doctor and she is funny in her portrayal of the physician who has seen it all and is just too tired to deal with her patients. She has a great voice and is very funny.
Bob Stillman and Kecia Lewis-Evans
With an inventive plot and lush songs, Beauty is a dreamy musical but also one that is filled with plenty of humor. Directed at a brisk two hour length (including an intermission) the show has acrobatic choreography as well as simple yet clear direction. The score is somewhat eclectic, with touches of pop, blues and rock with inventive clever lyrics. Though I did enjoy the songs and their effectiveness in telling the story and moving the plot along, the score isn't one that I necessarily remembered on the way home. It is a magical show about love, regret, compassion and the bond and devotion between a parent and child. It is also a dream of a production with a spacious set, inventive projections and colorful costumes. The fairytale gown Rose is brought to the clinic in is a stunner.
After its McCarter run, this production moves on to La Jolla and hopefully they will continue working on it and getting the last few kinks worked out. This is a show that I think could have a nice run in a small Broadway or Off Broadway house as well as a healthy life in regional theaters.
Sixty five years ago today on May 16, 1946, Annie Get Your Gun opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theater. It would run for 1,147 performances.
Starring Ethel Merman as Annie and Ray Middleton as Frank Butler, her love interest and rival, the show was directed by Joshua Logan. Merman would play Annie for the entire almost three year run of the show, only missing two performances in addition to two vacations she took.
The show is a fictionalized version of the early life of Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter from Ohio and how she became famous by entering a shooting match with Frank Butler. Now Butler was someone who toured the country with his act and when a $100 bet was placed in 1881 that Butler could beat any local to a shooting contest, Oakley entered and she won when Butler missed on his 25th shot. Soon after the two of them began a relationship and married. And while the musical fictionalizes their story it does show how they met at the shooting match and how they both became famous with their inclusion in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Though the rivalry between the two of them that exists throughout the show is something that I have to believe was fabricated for the musical, but the world tour that Annie makes in the show did actually happen.
Poster for the real Annie Oakley
Irving Berlin's score features numerous songs that became classics, including "There's No Business Like Show Business," "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun," "Moonshine Lullaby," "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly", "They Say It's Wonderful", and "Anything You Can Do.". The book of the show was written by Herbert and Dorothy Fields. Dorothy was actually good friends with Merman and it was her idea to write a show based on Annie Oakley to star her friend.
Twenty years later, Merman returned as Annie in the Broadway revival that made some changes to the book and score and added one new song, "An Old Fashioned Wedding.". This production was humorously referred to as "Granny Get Your Gun" due to Merman being almost 60 years old.
The U.S. Tour of the show starred Mary Martin as Annie and started in Dallas, Texas on October 3, 1947. Ten years later she would star in a tv movie version of the show.
A 1950 feature film was made that starred Betty Hutton as Annie. It was originally planned to star Judy Garland, and Garland even had recorded the songs as well as filmed several scenes before she was fired. Garland's recording of the score does exist and she makes a really good Annie.
The second Broadway revival stared Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat and opened in March of 1999. It would run for 1,046 performances with such notable replacements as Susan Lucci, Cheryl Ladd, Patrick Cassidy, Reba McEntire and Brent Barrett in the parts of Annie and Fred. McEntire's portrayal was met with enthusiastic reviews and there was even talk of making a tv movie of the show with her in the lead, but then the pilot for her sitcom Reba got picked up and the tv movie never came to be. The 1999 revival, much like the 1987 revival of Anything Goes I wrote about yesterday, featured a substantially rewritten book, now setting the story as a show within a show being presented as part of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and rearranged some of the songs as well as eliminating some as well. The new book was a hit and eliminated some of the previous dull songs as well as some of the slightly un-pc dialogue in the original book that dealt with the Indians that Annie comes in contact with.
This show, just like Anything Goes, is one that will get revived for centuries to come as it has a witty book, great characters and an amazing score.
The new revival of Anything Goes has to be just about the most fun one can have at a Broadway show. It has a score by Cole Porter with many well known Porter gems, a well written comical book, exuberant dance numbers, great sets and costumes and a top notch cast in both the leads and the ensemble. You will leave the theatre with a big smile on your face and humming the many Porter hit songs as well as singing the praises, once again, of star Sutton Foster.
It's been almost 25 years since Anything Goes was last on Broadway. I saw that production twice and had just as much fun then as I did yesterday. However, Kathleen Marshall who directed and choreographed this production, has upped the ante and turned this production into one with infectious dance numbers. When you have an actress who can dance in the lead part of Reno Sweeney, it is easy to create dance numbers that are built around her talents instead of ones that have to be created to hide your star's lack of dancing skills. Let's just say that as much as I loved Patti LuPone's take on Reno Sweeney in the 1987 revival, LuPone didn't dance much at all in that show. Foster is like a firecracker in this show, not just with her dancing and singing but with her comical deliver of her dialogue as well. I have to believe she will be taking home a Tony in just a few weeks.
Joel Grey and Sutton Foster
The show takes place on a ship sailing for England with various characters on board, mistaken identities, Chinese missionaries, gangsters, romantic possibilities and the headliner for the cruise, Miss Reno Sweeney. Marshall has assembled a dream cast for this show. Joel Grey is Moonface Martin, the comical public enemy who is disguised as a minister so as to not get caught. Grey has some great comic bits in the show, gets to do a little dancing and singing as well and he is simply fun and lovable to watch. Colin Donnell is Billy Crocker, the romantic lead, and he sings and dances in such a beautiful way that you can imagine how every girl in Manhattan is in love with him, as Reno says in the show. Laura Osnes is Hope, the girl Billy is in love with, and Osnes makes you care for her much more then I remember ever caring for a previous Hope in productions I've seen of this show before. Osnes and Donnell dance and sing beautifully together as well. Jessica Walter and John McMartin are the lovable older couple who find themselved romantically involved and both of whom get several funny scenes together. They are extremely funny and charming in their roles. Adam Godley is the slightly crazy Englishmen that Hope is engaged to marry. He has a very funny song in act two where he and Reno dance a gypsy tango together that is very hilarious. Godley was also nominated for a Tony for his performance, as he is that funny in this part.
Adam Godley, Laura Osnes, Jessica Walter,
John McMartin and Colin Donnell
Anything Goes is one of those shows that has been revised several times since its first Broadway production back in 1934. Many songs have been removed as well as other songs added in from other Porter scores. The 1962 off Broadway revival was the first to include such songs as "Friendship" and "It's Delovely" while the 1987 revival featured a new book co-written by the son of one of the original book writers. That book was able to take the previous versions before it and whip it up into a comical gem by adding in many funny one liners as well as reordering some of the songs. The current Broadway revival uses the book and score from the 1987 revival though about 50% of the orchestrations have been revised for the new dance sequences.
Colin Donnell and Sutton Foster
It really is amazing to think that Broadway only got two musical revivals this year and that both this show and the revival of How To Succeed... are both so similar in their humorous books, great sets, costumes, choreography and casts.
Anything Goes is playing at the newly renamed Stephen Sondheim Theatre. This recently rebuilt theatre is a beautiful new space that was built from the former Henry Miller's Theatre. It is a very interesting theater in that you enter from the street level at the rear mezzanine level and have to go two flights underground to get to the orchestra section. Fortunately, even though it is only a little over a year old, the seats aren't packed together as there is plenty of leg room, unlike many other Broadway theaters which when they are remodeled seem to pack in more seats and eliminate comfort.
Sutton Foster, the cast and the amazing set.
So, if you're looking for a humorous, joyful musical, in a beautiful brand new theatre, go see Anything Goes!
"A life that's all about death is no life at all" is a quote heard early in the film Hereafter. My own quote after seeing this movie would be "a movie about life after death where the story has a pretty meaningless conclusion is no movie at all."
Now I have to commend director Clint Eastwood. In the past decade he has churned out about a movie a year and most of them have been pretty good dramas. His movies have been set in various periods, dealt with a wide range of topics including true crime cases, Nelson Mandela and the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the battle of Iwo Jima. I've actually liked all of these movies but then he made Hereafter.
Now maybe the point of the film went over my head, but let me give you the brief plot highlights for this film that encompasses three seemingly unrelated stories: French woman Marie survives being swept away in a tsunami while on vacation in Thailand but has a near death experience before she awakens that she can't stop thinking about; 12 year old London boy Marcus is unable to cope now that his twin brother has been killed in a car accident and tries to find a way to speak to him; and in San Francisco, George, a former professional psychic, keeps finding himself pulled back into his old profession even though he has tried desperately to move on with his life so he doesn't have to deal with the intense emotional connection that comes with talking with the dead.
Cecile de France and Matt Damon
I'm a big fan of movies that present characters in different parts of the world with unrelated stories that you know will eventually all come together before the film is over. So, when Hereafter shifted between these three very different story lines I was intrigued with the possibilities of what would come next and how they would ultimately intertwine. All three stories are given equal weight in the film and the three leads couldn't be better. Matt Damon as George, Cecile de France as Marie and Frankie McLaren as Marcus all exhibit perfectly the sense of suffering, and wonder that one would imagine comes with dealing with the afterlife.
However, the film is 2 hour and 9 minutes long and could have dealt with some significant trimming to make it more compelling and not so slow going, Eastwood's gentle touch works effectively in many of the emotional scenes but the story just doesn't come together to effectively portray an ending that does justice to the characters. In fact, the "readings" that Damon's character gives aren't anywhere near emotionally intense and draining as he mentions the main reason why he stopped doing them and he so easily agrees to do them that it really goes at odds with what his character has said before. And, as much as I liked Bryce Dallas Howard as a woman who George meets in a cooking class, the way their relationship unfolds and ultimately concludes is so by the book that it is just another example of how the script for this film isn't anything special.
Frankie McLaren
There is a great effects scene in the beginning of the film of the tsunami which makes you really realize how quick and traumatic an event it is, but the rest of the film is dull and long.
But again, maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand what Eastwood and writer Peter Morgan were getting at.
If you were thinking of putting this in your Netflix queue or a possible Redbox rental, consider yourself warned.
Just want to say a big "thanks" to everyone for checking out my blog. I've just gone over the 5,000 pageview mark in only a little over 7 weeks since I "officially" launched the site.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
If anyone has any recommendations for future blog postings just let me know.
If you're looking for a Broadway musical with a big cast, elaborate set pieces that move around the stage, fun and colorful costumes, a score with some really nice songs and a book that makes you laugh and cry just a little, then I give you Sister Act. This is a show I loved and recommend highly.
Based on the 1992 film of the same name that starred Whoopi Goldberg and Maggie Smith, the musical moves the locale to 1970's Philadelphia from 90's San Francisco. In doing so, it is able to pay homage to the style and music of the 70's, including everything from disco to Motown and funk.
The show premiered in London in June of 2009 with the book of the show written by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, lyrics by Glenn Slater and music by Alan Menken. The Broadway cast stars Patina Miller in the Goldberg role of Deloris and Victoria Clark in Smith's role as the Mother Superior. The show was slightly changed for Broadway with Douglas Carter-Been coming in to provide some rewrites on the book and Jerry Zaks added as the new director of the show. I didn't see the show in London where it ran last year or in any of the couple of other cities where it played before so I can't comment if the changes were for the better, but the current book seems honest and sincere without being too predictable and there are many funny parts as well.
Applegate, Clark, Gregory and Miller
The plot of the story is one you've seen in many other films and shows before, person witnesses a crime and has to hide out, disguised, until they can serve as a witness at trial. In this case, the person is Deloris van Cartier, a lounge singer wannabe, involved with Curtis, a married man and club owner who just also happens to be a gangster. Deloris is ready to end it with Curtis as she realizes he is holding back her dreams but when she leaves the club she sees Curtis kill one of his men who he believes has talked to the police. Deloris tells him that she didn't see anything, but that isn't good enough for Curtis who tells his men to follow her and bring her back. Deloris runs and manages to make it to a police office where she runs into an old friend from high school, Eddie, who is now a cop. Eddie, who always had a crush on Deloris, hides her away at a local convent, the last place he thinks Curtis would look for her. The convent is in deep trouble as very few people come to mass anymore and there is an offer to buy the church and turn it into an antique shop. Run by a stern Mother Superior who wants little to do with Deloris, but is forced to take her in by the Monsignor as the police have given the church a large donation to hide her. Deloris and the Mother Superior do not see eye to eye on many things and when Deloris tries to beef up the choir by using many of her lounge moves and songs the Mother Superior wishes she was gone. Will Deloris and the Mother Superior get along? Will Curtis and his men find Deloris? Will the church really be sold? And what about Eddie, will he and Deloris become a couple? I think you can guess the answer to all of these questions, but even though the plot is somewhat predictable, the dialogue, songs, cast and direction make this show an extremely enjoyable one.
Clark and Miller
Miller is Deloris and Clark is the Mother Superior and they are both excellent in their roles. Miller is the girl with a dream who won't let anything get in her way, not even witnessing a murder. And while at the beginning of the show she comes across a little too "look at me I'm fabulous baby" - which is an actual lyric from the show, she quickly realizes how she doesn't have anyone to turn to and how the nuns at the church are her family. Miller plays the transition of her character very well, with a great voice as well as a great stage presence not to mention some fabulous costumes.
Clark is amazing in her role, since she is dressed in a habit for the entire show, she has to pretty much "act" with her face and she excels at this. She says so much with a simple look, gesture or a pause and the audience fell in love with her immediately. She is given a couple of nice songs to show off her voice as well. I think Clark might win another Tony for this part, assuming Book of Mormon doesn't sweep every category. I also liked Chester Gregory as Eddie, Marla Mindelle as the postulate who doesn't quite know if she's gotten the calling yet or not and Fred Applegate as the Monsignor. Mindelle has an amazing voice and is given one of the best songs in the show "The Life I Never Led" to show it off. The rest of the ensemble is very effective, the men play several parts and each of the nuns is given something to make them somewhat distinguishable from the others.
Miller and Mindelle
The set is sensational, with plenty of large pieces that move in and around and even the set has some special surprises in store for us come the end of the show. A big round of applause for set designer Klara Zieglerova. Costume designer Lez Brotherston has come up with some fun
70's period costumes for Deloris, Curtis and his crew as well as some fun surprises in the nun habits come act two.
The score by Menken and Slater has some really nice songs, with just a few so-so ones. Slater's lyric rhymes are very funny and I loved how some of the songs start out one way but turn into something completely different, like Curtis' song "When I Find My Baby" that starts out as a love song about finding your sweetheart but then becomes a song about how you're gonna harm them when you find them. Slater uses some very funny and original rhyme choices here and in almost all of the songs. Menken's music is nice as well, giving us a wide range of styles including disco, rock, funk, Motown and even a little hip hop. There are a couple of changes in the score from the London production, including giving Mother Superior a new act two song where before she just had a reprise of her act one solo. Since the London cast was recorded and Miller starred in that production, it looks like they won't be making a new recording with the Broadway cast which is a shame, as this way Clark and Mindelle's great work in this show won't be preserved as well as the changes to the score that were made for the Broadway run.
There are also some great theatrical moments in the show too, which I don't want to give away but I'll just refer to a couple I liked most. Eddie's song "I Could Be That Guy" starts somewhat slow and seems like a throw away song but it turns into a very funny period song that has not one but two great moments in it that are something that leaves a smile on your face. I loved how Deloris' lounge act songs that open the show take on a completely different meaning at the end of act one.
Clark
One of the other really nice things about this show is that most musicals have all of their good stuff in Act One, kinda like the creators got all of their creative juices flowing and then didn't have much left for Act Two. But Sister Act is one of those shows where Act Two is even better than the first one.
Sister Act is the last of the four nominated Best Musicals that we saw and if I had to vote it would be a toss up between this show and Catch Me If You Can for that award. As the more I think about The Book of Mormon the less I liked that show, even though I'm pretty sure it will most likely sweep the awards this year and to me Scottsboro Boys was more about an idea for a show and less of an actual fully fleshed out production of that idea.
As Ethel Merman was quoted as saying when she lost out on winning the Best Actress Tony for Gypsy to Mary Martin in The Sound of Music, "you can't buck a nun!" and after seeing Sister Act I have to agree with Merman.
Amazon link for the London cast cd - Sister Act (OCR)
Amazon link for MP3's of the London cast recording of the show that starred Patina Miller - Sister Act
Last night we attended a reading of June Moon, the play by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman. Starring Jim Parsons on his night off from co-starring in the Broadway revival of The Normal Heart, the reading also starred TR Knight, Samantha Mathis, Dagmara Dominczyk and Mary Faber.
The Roundabout holds these types of readings a couple of times a year to determine if they should mount a full scale production of the work in the future. We recently attended a great reading they held of Arsenic and Old Lace that starred Frances Sternhagen and Estelle Parsons.
June Moon is set in 1929, the year the play premiered on Broadway. It tells the story of Fred Stevens, an aspiring lyricist on his way to New York City to make it big on Tin Pan Alley. On the train to New York from his hometown of Schenectady he meets Edna ("Eddie") a young female dental assistant and the two of them fall into a relationship. When Fred gets to New York he meets composer Paul Sears, who we soon discover is in debt, is far advanced against his royalties and hasn't had a hit song in years. Paul sees Fred as his ticket to getting back on his feet and Paul's sister in law Eileen sees Fred as her meal ticket to late nite clubs, expensive clothes and a cruise to Europe. Add to the mix Paul's wife Lucille, who isn't happy in her relationship with Paul and Paul's musician friend Maxie who is always around ready to play a tune in hopes that it will get sold to a record publisher and you have a comedy that is light and fluffy yet filled with an underlying sense of sadness as well as the occasional song.
For the reading, Jim Parsons was Fred, TR Knight was Paul, Samantha Mathis was Lucille, Dagmara Dominczyk was Eileen, Mary Faber was Eddie and Mark Nadler was Maxie. In supporting roles were Kevin McCarthy, Annaleigh Ashford, Bill Buell, Stephen Boyer, Robyn Hurder and Jay Sullivan.
The reading took place on the set of The Importance of Being Earnest at the American Airlines Theatre and the cast read from their scripts on music stands. There were obviously no sets or costumes and very little stage movement, so you had to imagine a lot of what the direction and look and feel of the show would be like.
The cast for the reading was all great with Parsons, Faber, Knight and Mathis exceptionally good. And while I liked Dominiczyk i thought that her modern look was at odds with the 1929 based character she was playing. Obviously costumes and wigs would eliminate that, but for a reading where the performers are in street clothes it was somewhat of a distraction.
I enjoyed the play, but with a somewhat simple plot and a very dated storyline, I can't imagine the Roundabout will decide to go forward with a full production of this show.
Matthew Morrison has appeared in six Broadway shows, originating parts in three musicals (Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza and the 2008 revival of South Pacific) and was nominated for the Tony Award for his performance in The Light in the Piazza. Of course all of this was before he became a household name by starring as Spanish teacher and glee club director Will Schuester in the hit tv show Glee. That part has earned him Emmy, Golden Globe and People's Choice Award nominations as well as got him a record deal. His first album under that deal is released tomorrow and here is an early review of the album.
"Matthew Morrison" is the name of Matt's debut album, not exactly that creative of a title but fortunately Morrison has got plenty of creative talent behind the scenes of his debut solo cd. The tracks on this recording have some of the best pop writers around today, the music represented covers a wide breadth of types of pop music and the adult contemporary genre and the recording boasts duets with Elton John, Sting and Morrison's frequent Glee guest star Gwyneth Paltrow. The recording features top producers including Steve Kipner, someone who has had a vast career in the recording industry, both producing and writing hit songs and albums. His style pairs nicely with Morrison's voice and the songs selected for the cd.
Morrison has a clear strong voice which comes through perfectly on the recording. He also has great diction and the cd allows him to show off his range as well. There is absolutely none of that "Broadway star" or even "tv star" attitude or pretense that gets in the way of Morrison shining on this cd as an actual singer and recording artist. In fact, if you heard a track from this cd on the radio you would never think it was someone who was on a tv show or had done Broadway shows - and I mean that as a compliment - Morrison comes across as a pop/rock singer on these tracks which, I believe, is exactly what his intent was.
The upbeat "Summer Rain" starts off the cd. This is a song that I imagine will get a lot of airplay as it is that perfect song for the beginning of summer. Morrison actually co-wrote the song, which shows he is adept at songwriting as well.
I really like "My Name" which has an arrangement that reminds me of some of the ballads by the UK groups Take That and Oasis, it also has interesting lyrics about who someone really is. I also like his duet with Elton John, which is a perfect pairing of two of John's hits, "Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters" and "Rocket Man."
"Hey" and 'Don't Stop Dancing" are nice upbeat songs that I can see getting plenty of air play. And "It's Over" is a lovely song about the end of a relationship that Morrison co-wrote with his Hairspray composer Marc Shaiman.
And while I like the duet of "Over the Rainbow" with Paltrow, it is the one song that doesn't seem to quite fit with the rest of the material. I'm glad he decided to forgo including any duets with his Glee co-stars, since so many of those recordings already exist. And Morrison does play his signature ukulele on a few tracks as well, but it blends seemlessly with the arrangements.
The cd is a nice balance of upbeat dance songs, ballads and the three duets. With top productions values, including perfect arrangements for each song, a nice collection of song styles and great duet partners, Morrison should be very happy of his fortune. I'm sure this recording will go to the top of the charts just like every one of the other Glee recordings has done in the past.
Amazon's version of the cd includes an exlusive song.
Matthew is going out on tour this summer - tour dates are below and check his website for more details. Matt's official site
Matthew sings "Summer Rain" on the Ellen Degeneres Show -
Album sneak peak -
Matt on Regis and Kelly -
Tour Dates:
Date City Venue
June 18 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre
19 St. Louis, MO Fabulous Fox Theatre
21 Rosemont, IL Rosemont Theatre
22 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
23 Detroit, MI Detroit Opera House
27 Philadelphia, PA Mann Center for the Performing Arts
28 Newark, NJ New Jersey Performing Arts Center
29 Boston, MA Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre
July 1 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
2 Atlantic City, NJ Caesar's - Circus Maximus
6 Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall
7 Greensboro, NC War Memorial Auditorium
8 Duluth, GA The Arena at Gwinnett Center
10 Tampa, FL David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Perf. Arts
11 Orlando, FL Bob Carr Performing Arts Center
13 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park Amphitheatre
14 Jacksonville, FL Moran Theater
16 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
17 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall
19 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
20 San Diego, CA Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay
23 Los Angeles, CA NOKIA Theatre
I saw Star Wars on it's opening weekend in May of 1977 and my life pretty much changed from that moment on. Seeing that film, on a giant screen with no prior knowledge of anything about it, was an amazing experience. It was a packed audience and I'm pretty sure everyone there felt the same way as I did. Now, I liked movies before but after seeing Star Wars I became interested in finding out more about films, how they were made, what films influenced them, etc. I think it was that weekend in May that made be interested more in discovering the art of the movies instead of just being a casual observer of them. One of the main things I quickly realized was how important the soundtrack of a movie was to instilling or projecting certain feelings, themes and ideas to the audience. And, even though I had never really heard of John Williams before seeing Star Wars, after that weekend in May of 1977, his was a name I would never forget.
So, I give you my "Ultimate Star Wars" playlist - which includes my favorite tracks from all six of the Star Wars films. Check out the Clips from all 30 tracks below in the Amazon mp3 clip box-
Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer (center) and the cast
of the Papermill Playhouse production of Curtains.
John Kander and Fred Ebb have written some excellent musicals - Chicago, Cabaret and Kiss of the Spider Woman being their three most successful shows. But they also wrote numerous others, some of which had decent runs on Broadway while others didn't run long at all. However, their scores are usually always great with each show having at least a few good songs. Woman of the Year, Zorba, The Rink, The Act, Flora the Red Menace and Steel Pier all have some great songs in their scores but while Woman of the Year ran for two years on Broadway, the other shows only managed a run of a year or so with some of them only managing to last a few months.
Fred Ebb passed away in 2004 but like any composing team they had numerous shows that were in the works when Ebb died or ones that they had been working on in the past but had stopped concentrating on for various reasons. Two of these shows had Broadway productions mounted after Fred's passing -Scottsboro Boys and Curtains. Scottsboro Boys is obviously in the news now since that show just received 12 Tony nominations, but like many of Kander and Ebb's other shows, Scottsboro didn't have a long Broadway run, only managing to last on Broadway for six weeks.
Curtains managed a longer run then Scottsboro, it opened on Broadway in March 2007 and ran for a little over a year, closing in June 2008. With this show it wasn't just Ebb who passed away before it was able to be produced, but also Peter Stone, who had the original concept for the show and wrote the original book, passed away in 2003. Now Curtains is a musical mystery so fortunately Rupert Holmes, who has experience with mysteries and musicals- having written the book and the score for the Broadway show The Mystery of Edwin Drood as well as other mystery plays, was brought on board to re-write the book as well as add additional lyrics in Ebb's absence.
Amanda Rose and Robert Newman
The plot of the show involves a Broadway bound musical, having out of town tryouts in 1959 Boston, who's leading lady is murdered on their opening night. A local detective, who also is a musical theatre buff, attempts to solve the murder while the creators and cast of the musical attempt to solve the problems with their show. And since the murder happened on the stage when everyone in the cast and crew were present, they are all suspects and can't leave the theatre until the mystery is solved.
We saw the original Broadway cast in previews and yesterday saw the Paper Mill Playhouse production of the show.
Now Curtains does have many things going for it - great characters, a plot that keeps you guessing as to just who the murderer actually is and some rousing songs. While the plot is an interesting and somewhat original one, and there are some good songs and the plot has plenty of twists and turns it it, I still found the show to be a little lacking in being able to bring all of the components together to make a satisfying musical. After seeing the Paper Mill Playhouse production, I still feel the same way.
David Elder and the cast
I think the main reason for this is that the show tries to play it both ways, it wants to be a somewhat serious whodunit while also being a backstage musical comedy and it has a little difficulty in seamlessly combining the two. There are a couple of times in the show when the mystery is in process of being solved only to have a comical number relating to the musical inside of Curtains get in the way. Now I understand that is the point of this show, that things get in the way of us finding out who the murderer is, and Holmes is a very good book writer, but some of these moments seem to slow the show down instead of being just a simple bump on the road to the discovery of just whodunit. I also think the score, while having some very good songs, just isn't on the par of some of Kander and Ebb's other shows. Most of the songs for the show within the show, Robbin' Hood!, just aren't that good, while most of the songs for the characters that are working on Robbin' Hood are. It's still a fun show, and I think you'll have a fun time at it, I just wish that the score had a couple of more hit songs and the book was scrubbed a little more to elevate the whole show to something more on the calibre of Kander and Ebb's hit musicals.
Zimmer, Anne Horak and Ed Dixon
It's a good thing that both the Broadway and Papermill casts are extremely well cast. While the Broadway show included David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk in the two lead parts of the Boston detective trying to solve the case and the co-producer of Robbin' Hood!, at Papermill these parts are being played by Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer. Newman and Zimmer played a couple on the soap Guiding Light for many years and while they don't play a romantic couple in Curtains, they have such great chemistry together and that translates to this production. Both have been nominated for numerous daytime Emmy's for their work, with Zimmer winning the award four times. Newman perfectly plays the detective trying to solve the murder as well as a person who loves the theatre, the fact that they are the same character and Newman is able to play both sides of this character shows how good of an actor he is. Zimmer has great comic skills, a great laugh and is able to instill fear in the cast and crew of her show, exactly like you'd expect a producer to do. They both also sing and dance very well.
Other cast members of note in the Papermill production are Ed Dixon as the director of Robbin' Hood! - he has perfect comic timing and great stage presence and David Elder who plays the choreographer and male lead of Robbin' Hood! performed that part on Broadway as well. He is a great dancer and singer. Anne Horack is the daughter of Zimmer's character and she has a lot of fun with the role and has a great dance number in act two with Elder.
Papermill has given this show a first rate production with a beautiful backstage set design by Robert Kovach, excellent lighting by Charlie Morrison and colorful and spectacular costumes by Tracy Christensen.
My favorite songs from the show - Thinking of Him, Show People, Coffee Shop Nights, I Miss the Music, It's a Business and A Tough Act to Follow
- audio clips below: